Chicken Stock

Chicken stock is so easy and much healthier than store bought broth that's usually full of salt, even the low sodium. I make mine with no salt added, and then when I cook with it I can add the salt to the dish to suit my taste.

How to Make Chicken Stock

If you're going to roast the bones put them in a foil lined baking pan, drizzle a little olive oil over the foil or bones, (if desired brush lightly with tomato paste), cover with foil and bake at 400 for 1 1/2 hours.

Stock made from raw bones has a "cleaner, purer" taste and its flavor makes it perfect for dishes where you want the stock to have a neutral profile, such as risotto, some sauces, and soups where you want the vegetables to shine.

Transfer the bones and all of the drippings if any to a large pot, add remaining ingredients and cool water. Over medium high heat bring mixture to a low boil, stirring occasionally. Reduce heat and partially cover making sure that steam can escape to prevent boil-over.

All of the stock ingredients will float to the top for a while. Just keep simmering it on your stove for at least 6-8 hours or longer. The longer the better.

To finish the stock the next day, bring stock to a boil then reduce heat to low. Add water to replace what evaporated out and continue to simmer. If you only cooked it for 6 hours yesterday then cook another 4-6 hours more, or if the stock is finished cooking, remove from heat.

Transfer the pot into your kitchen sink - it's so much easier to get the bones and vegetables out when the pot is down in the sink. On the side of the sink, have a large bowl with a large strainer inside. With tongs or a large straining ladle start scooping out the bones, letting as much stock drain back into the pot. Put discards into the strainer, the bowl will continue to catch more stock as it drains. Continue this process until everything is out of the stock, then discard solids.

Line the strainer with 2 layers of paper towels, crisscrossing them to keep larger particles from escaping and put it over a large bowl.

Ladle the hot stock into the paper towel lined strainer and let it drain into the pot. As the paper towels start to catch too many particles from the stock to drain well, remove the paper towels and replace with new ones. Continue this process until all of the stock has been strained. It does not need to be strained again unless you want a very clear stock, then repeat it a second time.

As you strain the stock, fill mason jars or ziploc bags with the strained stock for freezing or canning. Fill ice cube trays or muffin tins to freeze small amounts of stock for use in cooking.

Pressure Canning Chicken Stock/Broth

To pressure can the stock, get a large sheet pan and put cleaned mason jars on the sheet pan and put into a 250 degree oven for 15 minutes. Reduce heat to 225 degrees until ready to use jars. This sterilizes them and is so much easier than boiling the jars.

Ladle the stock into the jars leaving 1/2 inch head space. Tightly seal with lids and transfer them to your pressure canner.

Follow the directions for your pressure canner as far as water level, operation, etc.

Process 1/2 pint jars at 11 lbs of pressure for 20 minutes; pint jars for 25 minutes; quart jars for 35 minutes. DO NOT use 1/2 gallon jars - they are not designed to be used in your pressure canner. Higher altitudes need to use different processing guidelines.